Otherside
by KeiKo shinozuKa
Summary: In the midst of the descending darkness, you become the light that guides me to my true powers... hidden deep within myself...


DISCLAIMER: Bleach is Kubotite's masterpiece, and in **_bold italics_** are lyrics modified from the song "Otherside" by InMe (love this song, btw). I'm just a helpless fanatic who wrote this to cure my obsession. Chapter 63 spoiler alert! This is a one-shot song-inspired fic from Ichigo's POV, taking place during his training with Urahara (2nd test). Please R&R!  
P/S: This fic has only hints of it, but yeah, IchigoXRukia rocks! :D

**:: OTHERSIDE ::**

That's the last of the Chain of Fate... those gross barbaric mouths of corrosion consumed them... destroying all of it.

Suddenly, I feel tingles. All over my body. The bad thing is... it doesn't feel right.

No... this can't be! Somebody stop this!

This is not good. What is this uncomfortable feeling? It feels like piercing needles raging inside my body... intending to tear my heart into shreds... leaving an empty space in the centre of my soul. Thick, white substance began flowing out of my eyes and my mouth... instantly solidifying into a hard, hideous mask...

Shit!!! I'm turning into a Hollow!!!

With all my might, I try desperately to resist that strange dark force from taking over me. Dammit!!! I don't want to become a Hollow! I'm not going to be hunted and extinguished like all the other ugly monsters! This is not supposed to happen!!!

Is this how it is going to end? All the determination... only come to this??

What am I doing...?

Rukia...

**_Let me know if you care..._**

Am I really supposed to do this? I mean why should I care? You willingly left me for reasons that as you know, is unacceptable to me.

**_I can still feel that there's something left between us..._**

Hell, why should I care??? You are originally from Soul Society anyway! Go back and stay there already! I bet your family and friends are worried to death about you. So basically, there is no point of me barging into the other world, risking my short mortal life for some hundred-years-old shinigami, right?? Such nonsense!

And yet...

**_I know that this feeling is here to stay and it's not going to go away..._**

My head can't stop wondering. You left an empty space in this world. You tore a hole in the picture. Now it is blank, as if nothing has ever happened. It feels odd, despite the fact that I don't exactly fancy doing this Hollow-hunting job. In fact, I should be happy because without having you to whack the soul out of me every time a Hollow appears, I can enjoy undisturbed sleep everyday and have a peaceful, gossip-free social life.

**_I feel like this angel is going to leave me all alone..._**

You nag and you worry. Your drawings suck and you have a weird personality. You are troublesome, but since the day you slipped into my room during your routine Hollow chase, my life changed dramatically... because of you. I don't know if it is for good or bad, but up to now, I have no regrets.

Then again, you are gone...

**_So I close my eyes and see you in my home..._**

Can I ever become strong? How can I become a shinigami again? I'm just a soul just like any other ordinary soul... and now, I'm fighting for sanity. To end up as a Hollow is never in my what-to-do-in-life list, and thus... I have to find that power.

Will I find it?

**_She's slipping through my hands, and she begins to cry..._**

That day... that very day when you were taken away... do you know that I really wanted to protect you? But I can't even save you. Instead, you were the one who helped me out – saved my ass and kept me away from trouble again. Pathetic!

**_I'll wait to see you on the other side..._**

Damn you and your stubbornness. I'm going to save _your_ ass this time.

**_Look into her eyes as she begins to cry..._**

What's with those tears? So what if you won't forgive me? You would sacrifice yourself so that I would be safe? Think again. Not only your act is a suicide, but as long as I am alive, they will hunt me forever. As for you, they are going to execute you for heaven's sake!!! Are you contented with that???

**_I'll wait to see you on the other side..._**

I want to rescue you. NO. I _have_ to rescue you.

That's why... I need the power. I need to become a shinigami.

**_I feel there's something left here, and I know this feeling's here to stay..._**

What is this... aura of energy circling around me? It feels strikingly familiar... feels like something that I have had for a long time... something that fought with me throughout my times as a substitute shinigami... something that takes the form of my spiritual force...

_My zanpakutou_...

Yes, I hear it... a faint, vague voice... whispering. Is this it... the strength I have been looking for??

Please lend me the power. Please... let me grasp it...

**_I feel the angel leaves me..._**

I owe you my life, because you put yours on the thread once to save mine. You gave me your power so that we can save everyone. Yet in less than a month, they will kill you because of that. _Because of me_.

I can't let that happen to you. I won't!!

**_So close your eyes to see your other side..._**

Yes, I have the power. I will grasp my zanpakutou and become a shinigami... and I'm going to rescue you. No matter what. Soul Society is not exactly a place for me, but I will go there anyway, whether you like it or not. _For your sake_. Even if I have to fight a thousand men at once. Even if in the end you would stay there and never return again. Even if I have to bleed and suffer horrible pain...

I've made up my mind.

So don't tell me to back off or anything. I'm not someone who would sit back and wait helplessly for some tragic news from Soul Society. I've said that I don't fight for total strangers... but unfortunately, you are not a stranger to me anymore.

Whatever it is that you want to get mad about, you can argue with me later... but for now, this is my decision.

I will be stronger.

I will come for you.

Just wait for me, Rukia.


End file.
